American singer Bruno Mars has topped both the singles and albums charts in the UK this week, increasing his huge popularity.

Mars’ single ‘Grenade‘ retains the top spot for the second week running, holding off tough competition from the likes of Adele at number two, P Diddy at number four and Britney Spears, whose comeback single ‘Hold It Against Me‘ debuted at number six, which is surprising considering the amount of hype that’s been surrounding the song, however it is likely to climb.

Else where in the singles chart, Jessie J maintains a strong position at number three with her debut single ‘Do It Like A Dude’, and another ‘big for 2011’ artist, Wretch 32, who charts at number five with the song ‘Traktor‘.

Bruno’s debut album ‘Doo-Wops & Hooligans‘ lands straight in at number one on the other side of the charts this week, knocking Rihanna’s fifth effort ‘Loud‘ into second place, after dominating the UK charts in recent weeks.

Another new entry in the album charts comes from rock band White Lies with their second album ‘Ritual’, which charted at number three, following on from their impressive debut album which hit the number one spot. Adele’s debut album ‘19‘ also re-appears in the top ten this week at number eight, ahead of the release of her new album ‘21‘ out tomorrow.

Though I’m not a huge fan of Bruno Mars, it would be hard to dismiss his talent and deny that he has been extremely successful in his career so far, and I think he will go on to achieve big things.

President Obama robs a bank in Austria. Or does he? No he doesn’t, it was someone in a Obama mask!

A thief in Austria has robbed a bank while wearing a President Obama mask. The thief struck, in the town of Handenberg in Upper Austria just before the bank closed at 5pm (GMT) today. He threatened a bank employee with a gun shouting ‘This is a hold up, give me the money’!

The robber who is said to have spoken in a local dialect initially escaped on foot, with the money in a black shoulder bag but then, according to witnesses, sped off in a dark car. Sources put the amount stolen at around ten thousand euros. No one was hurt in the raid. Police think the man, disguised in his Obama mask, has been carrying out similar raids for the last two years.

I love it when people rob banks in masks of famous people. It just makes me laugh.

In late 2010, I decided to invite all members of Habbox Forum to take part in a huge survey; that would determine what Habbox’s favourite songs of the 2000-2009 decade are. After two months that consisted of you nominating your favourite songs, me compiling the list, and you voting for your favourite songs from that very list – the top ten favourite songs have been chosen. These songs will be revealed in a three part series this week right here on Habbox. So, without further ado, here is the first part of the best songs of the noughties, as voted by you…

10. MGMT – TIME TO PRETEND

Written by: Andrew VanWyngarden, Ben Goldwasser

This debut single by American psychedelic rock band MGMT was the opener from their first album Oracular Spectacular, released back in 2008. Just like many other MGMT songs, the track was hugely critically acclaimed, and was also a favourite for media usage, being played in TV advertisements all around the world.

Despite the widespread love for this song, it never really took off commercially, not performing well in barely any charts across the globe. But regardless of its average chart performance, the song has become one of the most loved of the noughties, with many bands performing cover versions since its release.

‘Time to Pretend’ is famous for its synth riff which serves as the intro for the song. The inspiration for the music in the song is certainly a strange one: “We wrote Time to Pretend our senior year of college, and the music was inspired by a praying mantis we had in our house. She laid eggs and it died, and we laid the egg case on this kinda model pirate ship on the mantle piece, and the eggs hatched and all these baby praying mantises were climbing up the rigging of the ship, and it was pretty crazy…” Pretty crazy indeed! The song tells the story of an aspiring rock performer, dreaming of a famous rock stars life, resulting in a genius piece of work.

9. GREEN DAY – BOULEVARD OF BROKEN DREAMS

Written by: Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool

Released in 2004 as a single from their fantastic album ‘American Idiot’, ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’ has become one of the legendary Green Day’s signature songs.

However, there were criticisms from fans of British band Oasis that Green Day had ripped off the chord progression from their song ‘Wonderwall’ for this song, but despite this, the song went on to receive critical and commercial success, even winning a Grammy for Record of the Year at the 2006 ceremony, and going on to become their most successful song ever in the United States.

Lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong wrote all of the lyrics, whilst in his son Joey’s bedroom. It is sung from the point of view of Jesus of Suburbia, the main character from the concept album ‘American Idiot’. A rock anthem paced at a moderate tempo, Armstrong’s lyrics are touching, depressing and clever at the same time, displaying why Green Day are one of the biggest rock bands on the planet.

Kings of Leon’s break into huge mainstream success was arguably down to this song alone. Acting as the lead single from their fourth album ‘Only by the Night’, the song marked the King’s transition from a southern rock Nashville group, into a loud, chart invading arena rock band. The song received a lot of praise from critics, however some branded the lyrics as “silly”, most notably the hook: “your sex is on fire”, a fair point I suppose, as, let’s be honest, is there any actual meaning? It was originally supposed to be “set us on fire”, but was changed due to a ‘running joke’ in the studio. Oh well, it’s catchy!

The song was a success, particularly in the UK where it peaked at number one, and was #14 in the End of Decade chart. It is also the third most downloaded digital single ever in the UK. Despite its following in the UK, the song didn’t really take off in the US, peaking at #56 on the Billboard Hot 100. Despite this, the song is one of the bands most famous, and a favourite at their live shows.

7. M.I.A. – PAPER PLANES

Written by: Mathangi Arulpragasam, Wesley Pentz

‘Paper Planes’ was the breakthrough into the mainstream for Sri Lankan rapper/singer M.I.A. The song became a surprise hit from her 2007 album ‘Kala’, after it gained attention from being used in the trailer for the movie ‘Pineapple Express’ starring Seth Rogen. As a result, it hit the top 20 in the UK, and peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. M.I.A. herself was surprised at the mainstream success of the song, telling Rolling Stone magazine: “I always took pride in being a little underground — it really is a very unlikely record to cross over.”

M.I.A. recorded the track with DJ/Producer Diplo in Brooklyn. Musically, the song is based around a sample from the song ‘Straight to Hell’ by The Clash. The chorus is famous for its controversial gun shots, which were censored on the radio, much to M.I.A.’s annoyance. Lyrically, ‘Paper Planes’ has been described as a satire. “Paper Planes is about people driving taxicabs all day and living in a ****** apartment and ‘appearing’ really threatening to society. But not being so. Because, by the time you’ve finished working a 20-hour shift, you’re so tired you [just] want to get home to the family,” she explained.

The song is truly a highlight from ‘Kala’, and is one of my personal favourites from this list!

That’s all for part one! Share your views in the comments as well – who will be number one on our list? Keep posted here for the next instalment later this week!

Do you like playing Pokemon? Well if you do, you’ll be glad to hear that nitendo have created new editions to the Pokemon games saga(Black & White).

There are 156 brand new Pokemon available on both games, there is also 3 new starter Pokemon at the start of the games. Pokemon Black & White is set to be the re boot of the Pokemon francise which hits stores across the Europe on the 4th March. Both games have been revamped to make the experience even better for player! Like previous Pokémon games, Black and White follow the journey of a Pokémon trainer as he/she trains and battles Pokémon to compete in Gyms and defeating the Elite Four, while destroying the evil plans of a criminal organization, in this case, Team Plasma.

Pokemon Black & White can be set in theUnova Region or the Isshu Region. These new locations are far away from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh. Will you be buying Pokemon Black or White? I will certainly be buying both!

Personally, I am looking foward to the release of the new games. I’ve been a Pokemon fan since the age of 8, I’ve watched the development of the games and I must say that all the previous games have been excellent.

Pop singer and icon Lady Gaga has given fans a small taster of a track for her upcoming album Born This Way, set to be released in May this year.

Gaga, who is set to release her eagerly anticipated new single next month, was cast as musical director for the unveiling of a new fashion collection for men by designer Thierry Mugler at a show in Paris. She announced that whilst the models took to the catwalk, she had remixed an as-of-yet untitled track from the album especially to accompany the show. (UPDATE: Lady Gaga has just confirmed that the title of the song is “Scheiße“, which is… a naughty word in German).

As per usual, her fans, or her ‘monsters‘ were going wild on the internet, awaiting the remix to hit the internet. And within minutes of the show drawing to a close, fan recorded videos were being posted on YouTube, sending fans on Twitter and various music forums crazy, desperately trying to figure out some of the lyrics which appear to be partly in German.

That night, Gaga promised via Twitter that the remix would be posted in high quality and in full length along with a video of Mugler’s latest menswear collection on his website the next day, which seemed like an age away!

As expected, the video surfaced this evening and within minutes the website crashed due to so many fans rushing to hear the song. I guess the world really is desperate to hear what Gaga is going to come up with next! Click here to see the video and hear the remix!

While it doesn’t give much away as to what the actual song will sound like, it has certainly kept the fans happy for now, ahead of her Grammy performance and release of her new single on February 13th.

As a big Lady Gaga fan myself, I was waiting for the recorded videos from the fashion show to appear, and I couldn’t stop listening to the remix! It just makes me think that Born This Way could actually live up to all the hype, and now I can’t wait even more!

Habbox is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored, or specifically approved by Sulake Corporation Oy or its Affiliates. Habbox may use the trademarks and other intellectual property of Habbo, which is permitted under Habbo Fan Site Policy.